In Your Arms
by Tiger's Stripes
Summary: "I knew you'd find me," he whispered into her ear. "Even if I lost hope, and you lost hope, I knew you'd find me in the end." Annabeth loosened the grip of her hug a little bit. "I never stopped looking." A one-shot about Annabeth and Percy's reunion.


**Random one-shot about that REALLY annoying cliffie Mr. Riordan gave us all at the end of the Son of Neptune. Little Percabeth reunited! That was, by the way, the single thing I most looked forward to about that book, so I'm pretty mad that he gave us that cliffie :-/ I hope you guys like it (I'm not great with canon characters, so be warned) Please review!**

"Are we there yet?" Annabeth paced the deck of the _Argo II_. Her feet made dull clunking noises on the wooden deck as she spun to face the black-haired boy driving the flying ship. "Well?" She demanded.

"Calm down," Leo called over his shoulder, "we're almost there."

At the bow of the ship, Jason leaned broodingly over the edge, arms crossed. His blond hair fluttered in the breeze, and his eyes were dark. Annabeth could understand why—For her, this was going to be a reunion with her boyfriend, Percy Jackson. But to Jason, it would be much harder. Since he hadn't remembered anything, including his almost-girlfriend, he had formed a relationship with the other member of their crew- Piper McLean, the pretty but unusually tomboy-ish daughter of Aphrodite. Annabeth felt a twinge of sympathy for her. The Mist had manipulated her mind, causing her to think Jason had been her boyfriend for a while. When she found out it was all a lie, and that there was someone else waiting for him back home, she must have been devastated.

"I can see the camp!" Leo's call yanked Annabeth out of her thoughts. The blond girl jumped up, pushing a strand of hair out of her face as it dangled there.

"What? Where?" Annabeth dashed to the bow of the ship and grabbed the railing, leaning so far forward she feared she would fall. But there it was—An enormous settlement where she could have sworn only open fields had been before. "That's it?" She asked. "It's huge!"

"Camp Jupiter," Jason told them grimly.

_He doesn't seem even the least bit happy to see home, _Annabeth reflected, _but perhaps it's not so strange, considering his position._

As the _Argo II_ sailed closer, more details became visible. There was a crowd of people gathered, all wearing purple t-shirts. One girl, with long brown hair, rode on a pale brown Pegasus a few yards above the crowd. Jason sucked in a breath and flinched back, as if struck. "That's… That's her," he stammered.

"Reyna?" Piper leaned against Jason as she said this, almost clutching his hand as she stared out at the girl on the Pegasus, who was drawing steadily nearer.

_She's feeling protective,_ Annabeth noticed.

"That's… Yeah, that's Reyna." Jason was definitely nervous now.

"Keep your cool, dude," Leo told him, "that's the best way to deal with jealous ladies."

Piper rolled her eyes, "like _you'd _know."

Leo looked mock-offended. "Are you kidding me?" He asked, "I have ladies falling over me all the time! Where have you been?"

"Well, I don't know where you've been, but it sure wasn't with us," Piper muttered under her breath; Even Jason cracked a smile at that.

When the ship finally hovered above the camp, Annabeth began to frantically scan the sea of faces for the one she knew so well. Half the people below her had black hair, but if Percy was one of them, there was no way she could miss him.

Reyna's Pegasus drew nearer, until she was close enough to shout: "Are you friends, or enemies?"

Annabeth stepped forward, choosing her next words carefully. She knew one wrong utterance would bring death to her and her friends. "We are friends," she called back, "and mean you no harm!"

Reyna's eyes narrowed; she was scanning their faces intently. When her eyes landed on Jason, she jolted back, looking like she had received an electric shock—Much the same as Jason had. "Very well," she replied, "you may land. But know this: If your weapons come out, well… You are sorely outnumbered. It is four of you against an entire army of Roman demigods! Consider your moves wisely!" Her Pegasus turned and descended slowly to the ground.

"Time to land this baby," Leo muttered. As he pulled at the controls, the _Argo II_ went into a smooth descent. Annabeth craned her neck out even further, searching for Percy. Most of the Roman demigods moved very little and were talking quietly among themselves. She caught sight of three people moving through the group towards the ship, and focused on them. One was a girl. Obviously, that wasn't Percy, unless there'd been something serious he'd forgotten to tell her about. The other was a strongly built boy with an oddly babyish face. That wasn't Percy either. She focused on the middle person, who was talking to the other two. Her heart jumped into her throat. She couldn't see his face, but she had a feeling that she would recognize him anywhere—The way he walked, the way that little piece of hair just above his right ear always stuck out funny, no matter what he did to it—It was him. She was sure of it.

The ship hit the ground with barely a thud. The gate in the side of the ship slid open with a clang, and metal steps unfolded from the side. Instantly, a path cleared through the demigods. Percy had stopped. His two comrades had withdrawn into the crowd, and he stood alone, watching her. His sea-green eyes sparkled in the light of the day. He almost looked frozen, like a deer in the headlights. Annabeth decided he wasn't going to make the first move. So she did.

"PERCY!" She screamed, bolting off the ship like a crazed animal and running towards him. She collided into him and squeezed him in a hug so tight she was surprised he didn't fall over. He just stumbled a little bit.

"Annabeth- What- Oh, my Zeus." And then he was hugging her back. Annabeth could feel the tears sliding down her face. She never wanted this to end. He was here again. He recognized her.

He pulled her away and gripped her shoulders, staring at her with amazed happiness on his face. Every single person in the Roman camp was silent. Percy looked like he was going to say something, and Annabeth was expecting something profound to come out. She should have known, though—It was Percy, after all. What he finally said was, "you know, I swore on my life that you guys wouldn't be hostile, so if you injure anyone at this camp, including me, I die and everyone else attacks you."

"What?" Annabeth asked, baffled. "I didn't hurt you."

"Really?" Percy wrapped one hand around his chest, grimacing. "Try telling that to my ribs."

"Seaweed brain." Annabeth hugged him again, burying her face in his shirt. He still smelled like Percy—Fishy, but _good _fishy. Like… The beach on a spring day. You can smell the fish, but it's not stinky at all. It's comforting and makes you happy. That's how Annabeth felt, wrapped in the strong embrace of Percy's hug again.

"I knew you'd find me," he whispered into her ear. "Even if I lost hope, and you lost hope, I knew you'd find me in the end."

Annabeth loosened the grip of her hug a little bit, "of course," she murmured, "that's what girlfriends are for, isn't it?"

"What, finding their idiot boyfriends when they end up across the country with no memory?" Percy asked her.

"Very funny," Annabeth smiled, "but don't _ever_ scare me like that again."

"Of course not, Wise Girl." Percy pulled her in for a kiss, holding her just an inch away from him. "Do I look stupid to you?"

Annabeth blinked up at him, "depends on how you put it."

"Good one."

Held there, in Percy's arms, Annabeth felt whole again. Without Percy, nothing had seemed right. The ocean had only held sad memories, not happy ones; Posiedon's cabin had been empty and dark; she, Annabeth Chase, couldn't even concentrate on rebuilding Olympus! "I love you," she whispered to him.

"I love you, too."

**EDIT: In case you couldn't tell, I edited the chapter and have put it in by 'replacing content of said chapter with said document' so I will take this time to give an enormous THANK YOU! To anyone reading this one-shot. I've gotten almost 550 hits on this story, and I'm not sure how much that is to you, but to me, it feels amazing. Let me say it again: Thank you, even if you didn't review (which you should go do now *coughHINTcough* I hope you liked the story!**


End file.
